am i surprised we facing this fiscal cliff now? no, because we put it in. we created this cliff because we thought it will be so terrifying that congress would actually be shaken to reach a bipartisan agreement to reduce the debt. that's what our responsibility is and the time between now and the end of this year. >> i think congress is reflecting the nation. i think we are very divided. not in the goal, but how we get there, and i think america is too. i think that is reflected i think we now know that americans expect us to go forward, and we have no choice but to go forward. >> i think kay has made a very important point. one of the things that's troubled me about the analysis of congress is people act as if we're in a bubble and we just were self-generated. i mean, there are few people in this building that aren't here because they didn't get -- they should be doing self-criticism. it's exacerbated by one of the great inventions, creations of our humanity, which is the american constitution. at any given time america is governed by the results of three